By
LYNNE WILBANKS JETER
MBJ Contributing Writer
STARKVILLE The turning point came in 1998, when a couple of entrepreneurs
a management information systems professional and an industrial
engineer . landed contracts with the City of West Point and Community
Counseling Services, a division of the Mississippi Department
of Mental Health.
Since then, the principals that comprise Synergetics Diversified
Computer Services Inc. in Starkville have nurtured the company's
growth from a local three-man office with revenues of $550,000
in 1999 to a statewide $7.5-million consulting firm with 27 employees
servicing roughly 200 long-term accounts in nearly all 82 counties
in Mississippi.
"Our idea is to become the information systems staff for
organizations that do not have the need or resources for a full-time
information systems department," said Synergetics CEO David
Palmer.
This year, Synergetics expects to open five branches, including
immediate openings in Jackson and Cleveland, with revenue projections
between $10 million and $12 million. Next, they'll target Alabama
and other areas in the southeast with a goal of becoming a regional
consulting company and service provider.
"I'm certain our services are comparable to any of the large
firms in the state," Palmer said. "But in comparison
to most firms, we're more diversified."
As a consulting firm and service provider, Synergetics handles
it all: design, installation, management, cabling, training, application
development, Internet/Intranet development and management, hardware
sales, service and support and software sales service and support.
"Service is really where the computer industry is going,"
Palmer said. "Anybody can buy their computers and equipment
on the Internet. The difference is having somebody like us who
can go out at two o'clock in the morning and replace the hard
drive on your server. But that alone doesn't do anything to restore
your applications and data and get your business back up and running.
That's where the relationship with our company comes in. I think
that's why we've seen so much growth. Our company was founded
on customer service." |
Before Joel Hussenet, an electro-mechanical engineer, joined Synergetics
in 2000, he was CEO of Cataphote. That year, annual revenues for
Synergetics were $4.5 million.
"Joel has put in place the structure to sup-port the expected
growth of the company," said Palmer. "At $5 million,
you can manage by the seat of your pants, but at $7 to $10 million,
you have to have more structure and organization."
About 87% of their work is for educational institutions, including
school districts in Clay, Chickasaw, Oktibbeha and Noxubee counties,
the Houston Public School District and East Mississippi Community
College. They have primarily implemented solutions to provide
for technology in the classroom in elementary and secondary school
systems. Other specialized programs include Busworks, software
for K-12 school transportation, payroll and school maintenance
and supply. "We know what programs educational and government
customers need for state and federal reporting so that when they
have a problem, we don't have to tell them to call their software
company or some other vendor," said Palmer. "We're right
there."
Kathy Davis, superintendent of Chickasaw County School, said,
"We started working with them while they were still moonlighting,
before they became a full-time business. They've been extremely
important to what we've done with our school district. We had
to start at the bottom because we didn't have anything. Now they
probably know more about our district than we know ourselves.
We've been very pleased."
About 10% of Synergetic's work is government-related, such as
providing project management for individual municipal agencies
and complete citywide networking solutions to include data center
management and information distribution. The firm also coordinates
implementation and integration of county agencies and third-party
specialized hardware and software, and designs fiber optic backbones
for present and future infrastructure needs and integrates microcomputers
and mainframes into LANs and WANs.
"They were instrumental in putting together our system,"
said Dewel Brasher, city manager for West Point. "We chose
to do the actual work of running the fiber they provide the oversight
and management and computer 'guru-eese'."
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Law enforcement divisions, such as the Clay County Sheriff's Department,
the West Point Police Department and the Starkville Police Department,
have hired Synergetics to consult with and recommend hardware
and software solutions for computer-aided dispatch, criminal booking,
jail management, records and court management. The company has
provided network design, installations, management and training
services.
"We're affiliated with all major players in the hardware
end so we don't push any particular brand of equipment,"
said Palmer. "For the first five years, we didn't even sell
equipment. We consulted with clients on their purchases, but after
a while, they pushed us to start selling these products so now
our line card is pretty nice Microsoft, IBM, Novell, Acer, Cisco,
Compaq, Hewlet Packard, 3Com, ISP Channel, Dell, and Gateway."
Only 3% of their accounts are commercial, and an area they plan
to broaden this year, Palmer said.
Palmer said attracting "good quality personnel" has
been challenging.
"We've been fortunate to be able to hire computer students
from Mississippi State University on a co-op basis for on-the-job
training," Palmer said. "We've also helped graduates
get industry certifications by paying for their exams and developing
their skills. We're developing our workforce internally while
we search for others who are developed, but they're hard to find."
Synergetics has four full-time network engineers on staff, including
Compaq Systems engineers, and many certified technicians with
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Certified Netware
Engineer (CNE), A+, Network +, and Server + ratings. Numerous
employees have manufacturer authorizations from Gateway Service
Providers and Dell Premier Access Partners.
"Our commitment is to stay true to what's made us successful
customer relationships and service," Said Palmer.
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